The disclosure relates generally to systems for the infusion and layup of resin infused fibers, and more particularly, to automated systems for controllable infusion, delivery and layup of one or more fiber tows.
Resin infused fiber composite materials are being used increasingly in a variety of diverse industries, such as automotive, aircraft, and wind-energy, in part, because of their low weight and high strength properties. It would be desirable to form complex composite components and/or fiber patterns wherein the infusion and layup process are integrated into an automated in-line feed-through system. Current manufacturing processes typically involve the use of fiber pre-forms with subsequent resin infusion, or preimpregnated fiber tows called “prepregs” and a separate layup system and procedure using these infused fiber pre-forms or preimpregnated fiber tows.
Currently, efforts are underway to provide infusion of one or more fiber tows using systems including rollers with resin flowing through holes in the rollers from the bore to the outside surface. These systems, while applicable in many instances, do not permit control of the infusion of individual tows. To provide for control of infusion of individual tows, efforts are also underway to provide infusion of an array of fiber tows using systems including resin flowing through individually controllable nozzles. Irrespective of infusion procedure, subsequent to the infusion process, the one or more fiber tows are subject to layup on a separate component layup tool or tools. This process is time consuming and expensive in that separate systems are utilized to complete the fabrication of composite parts.
It would therefore be desirable to provide an improved automated system that integrates the layup of one or more resin infused fibers with the infusion process utilizing an automated in-line system that integrates the delivery, deposition and infusion of one or more fiber tows with the subsequent layup procedure to complete fabrication of a composite part. In addition, it would be desirable for the automated system to integrate real time in-line infusion for one or more dry fiber tows with the layup of the infused fiber tows for formation of complex composite components.